Shoe upper construction having a false seam



Dec. 17, 1963g P. E. BowERs 3,114,213

SHOE UPPER CONSTRUCTION HAVING A FALSE SEAM Filed Jan. l0, 1962 BY Mw .AEENT United States Patent() States Rubber Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New `lersey Filed Jan. 10, 1962, Ser. No. 165,389 3 Claims. (Cl. 36-48) This invention relates to footwear, and more particularly it relates to an improved footwear upper of the type used in canvas footwear.

Cloth uppers for casual shoes are commonly made from separate vamp and quarter pieces which are sewed together. Such multiple piece construction not only requires an undesirably large number of steps in fabrication of the upper, but also has certain disadvantages in the final product, such as a tendency for the fabric to fray at the sewed seam and a tendency for the raw edge of the fabric at such seam to cause irritation.

In accordance with the invention the cloth shoe upper is made from a single piece of fabric, which is folded over upon itself and stitched to make a false seam along the line separating the vamp area from the quarter area. The resulting upper can be made into a shoe comparing favorably in appearance, fit and quality with a conventional shoe. Fewer operations are required in manufacturing such an upper, and the elimination of a raw fabric edge at the juncture of the vamp and quarter reduces any tendency to irritation or fraying. The improved upper of the invention is adaptable to the various conventional lasting operations including slip lasting, cord lasting and Komborian lasting, and can be utilized in shoe making operations described for example in U.S. Patent 1,885,337 issued November l, 1932 to W. R. Dow, or as described in U.S. Patent 2,651,118, Root, issued September 8, 1953. It is also possible to use this type upper in conventional shoe making methods where preformed plastic or rubber soles are adhered to the lasted upper by vulcanizable cements or other adhesive systems in known manner. By one-piece upper we mean herein an upper which is essentially one piece, that is, the vamp and quarter constitute a single piece, although other subsidiary small pieces, such as a tongue, counter, edge binding, eye stays, etc., may if desired be attached to the upper.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a piece of fabric in the shape initially cut for making the shoe upper of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing a tongue sewed to the fabric piece;

FIG. 3 is a similar view of the reverse side of the piece shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the piece with a false seam formed therein;

FIG. 5 is a similar view of the reverse side of the piece shown in FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are enlarged fragmentary sectional views taken dong the lines 6 6 and 7 7, respectively, of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a plan view on the same scale as FIGS. 1-5 of the one-piece upper closed at the heel and with countered and eyelets added;

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line 9 9 of FIG. S; and,

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of a completed shoe.

Referring to the drawing, and in particular to FIG. 1 thereof, a single piece of cloth 10 is first cut out, for example by die cutting, in a shape and size appropriate to the desired vamp area 12 and quarter areas 14, 16. On each side of the piece, at the juncture of the vamp and of the upper 3,114,213 Patented Dec. 17, 1963 quarter areas, coinciding closely with the ridge portion of the quarter, there are projecting parts 17, 18 where a folded false seam to be described later will terminate. The piece as cut is generally U-shaped, the arms, of the U representing the quarters and the cross-member representing the vamp of the final shoe. The interior edge 20 of the piece corresponds to the opening or top line in the final shoe. A central longitudinal blade cut 22 between the quarters, which serves to separate the quarters at the eye stays, lextends into the piece from the edge 20 as far as the imaginary dividing line between the quarters and Vamp and'terminates in a small transverse blade cut 23 at this point to facilitate subsequent application of binding.

A tongue 25 is secured to the underside of the piece beneath the longitudinal cut 22, by a line of stitching 26 which passes through the throat of the longitudinal blade cut 22 and through the transverse blade cut 23.

In accordance with the invention, a false seam 3i) (FIG. 4 and following figures) is formed by making a double fold, that is, an S or Z fold, in the fabric along the line of juncture between the quarter portions and the vamp portion and sewing such fold in place. The folding and sewing operations may be performed by hand or these operations may be performed simultaneously and automatically on commercially available sewing machines.

In more detail, and referring particularly to the iinal appearance of the false seam 30 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the fabric 10 has a transverse exterior line of fold 31 corresponding essentially to the desired juncture between the vamp and quarters. The folded fabric thus forms an underlying portion 32 extending in the direction toward the toe of the shoe for a distance appropriate to the desired width of the false seam. The fabric then doubles back or folds again at an interior line 33 parallel to the exterior line of fold 31, in the direction toward the heel of the shoe, thus providing a third and undermost layer 34 of the false seam. The fabric thus has a thickness of three layers at the false seam. All three layers of the false seam may be sewed together with a rst row of stitching 35 in proximity to and parallel to the exterior line of fold 31 to secure the exterior fold in place and attach it to the undermost layer of fabric, and with a second row of stitching 36 in proximity to and parallel to the interior line of fold 33 to secure the interior fold in place and attach it to the uppermost layer of fabric. In this form, the upper 1t) gives the appearance of having been made by sewing together separate vamp and quarter pieces, joined together along a transverse line which may proceed straight across the shoe or in any desired curved fashion, as shown.

The fabric upper 10 is then closed by sewing together the heel ends of the quarters 14, 16 to form a heel seam 40 as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 in accordance with conventional practice. A counter piece 41 may be sewn in place at the heel area, and eyelets 42 may be applied, in accordance with usual practice. As indicated previously the upper 10 may be incorporated into a completed shoe 43 (FIG. 10) including the usual sole 44 by any suitable conventional method desired.

The invention possesses many advantages from the standpoint of ease of preparation of the upper and quality of the final product. The invention eliminates separate quarter and vamp parts, and substitutes therefor a one piece upper which has the appearance of a conventionally made upper, and which mitigates certain end product disadvantages while also eliminating certain processing steps. The advantages of the invention in this respect will become apparent upon considering the conventional steps for fabricating shoe uppers as follows:

(1) Die cut vamp.

(2) Die cut two separate quarters.

(3) Prefold edge of vamp and stitch fold edge to hold in place.

(4) Stitch prefolded and prestitched vamp to both quarters along prefolded vamp portion.

It will be noted that there are multiple die cutting, folding, stitching and relatively diticult alignment operations to form a finished prepared upper. It should also be noted that a number of people are required merely to sort and stack the multiple parts and to truck them to the next operation. Any misalignment results in a second or reject.`

In contrast to the above, the new method of the invention is as follows:

(l) Die cut one part which is both vamp and quarters.

(2) Fold part upon itself, in the normal area for joining vamp and quarter parts together, and stitch. This can be don-e in a single machine operation.

The new method eliminates certain processing steps, a certain amount of scrap, and eliminates the precision alignment necessary between individually cut and prepared vamp and two quarter parts. In addition, the allied operations, particularly sorting, stacking and trucking, and greatly reduced.

A further advantage is the elimination of a rough irritating raw edge on the inner surface of the quarter of the conventionally prepared upper by replacing the raw edge with a smooth folded edge. This folded edge also eliminates possible fraying of the fabric.

In a conventionally made upper, if the stitch line between the vamp and quarters breaks, the shoe literally falls apart. As soon as one stitch breaks in the conventional upper there is provided a ready access for dirt to enter the shoe as well as a raised edge which allows the remaining stitches to be ripped out easily. In contrast, with the present one piece false seam construction the upper cannot thus fall apart or admit dirt as it actually consists of essentially one piece of fabric.

I am aware of U5. Patent 1,018,455, Vecchio, February 27, 1912, which discloses giving an upper the appearance of being made in several parts by the use of cords and stitches. I am also aware of U.S. Patent 1,205,548, Kimmel, November 28, 1916, in which the folded edge of the conventional shoe upper is simulated resistant to deformation and that presents the appearance and advantages of multi-piece uppers without the disadvantages thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A shoe upper comprising a singlel piece of fabric, constituting the vamp and quarter portions of the upper, and a fold in said piece of fabric extending along a line of juncture between the vamp and quarters, said fold conl stituting a false seam and` being sewed in place.

2. A shoe upper comprising a single piece of fabric constituting the vamp and quarter portions of the upper, and a Z-shaped false seam provided by a double fold in said fabric to form a triple thickness of fabric at said seam, such double fold being held in place by a double row of stitching through said three thicknesses.

3. A shoe having an upper comprising a single piece of fabric constituting the Vamp andquarter portions of the upper, and a fold in said piece of fabric extending along a line oi juncture between the vamp and quarters, said fold constituting a false seam and being sewed in place.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany Jan. 20, 1930 

1. A SHOE UPPER COMPRISING A SINGLE PIECE OF FABRIC CONSTITUTING THE VAMP AND QUARTER PORTIONS OF THE UPPER, AND A FOLD IN SAID PIECE OF FABRIC EXTENDING ALONG A LINE OF JUNCTURE BETWEEN THE VAMP AND QUARTERS, SAID FOLD CONSTITUTING A FALSE SEAM AND BEING SEWED IN PLACE. 